Question PSU clicking during gaming

[nuclearblast21]

Hello everyone! First time posting here but I have been "lurking" for several years whenever I have a hardware question.

I tried googling obviously and found some posts here about similar problems but nothing exactly like what I am experiencing on my desktop.

So I recently acquired a pre built PC (I will leave the system specs below) and after about a month of usage, last night while playing God of War I noticed my PSU was making a weird clicking noise that it had never done before. I turned the game off and the noise immediately stopped. I restarted the game and sure enough, the clicks started again.
I tried some other games (CS:GO, VALORANT, Elden Ring, Destiny 2) and all of them produced the same result, clicking noises.

There seems to be absolutely no impact on performance on any of these games, all the temperatures are within acceptable values given that it is summer and my house gets quite warm (the CPU never goes above ~80C, GPU never goes above ~78C, mobo stays at ~40C) and the machine never lost power or turned itself off.

During light usage or when idling, the machine is basically silent (just the fans spinning at low speed) but as soon as I boot up a game, the noise starts again.

I opened up the case and checked for signs of damage on the PSU but found nothing, no burn marks, no weird smells, no blockages in the fan.

I'm stumped! Could it be a defective PSU or is this a harmless clicking sound like coil whine or something? I will leave a link to a video I recorded where you can clearly hear the clicks while GoW is running.

YouTube link:

View: https://youtu.be/JvBFWyj9qqo


Full system specs:

• Windows 11 Home 64-bit
• Motherboard Micro-ATX ASUS Prime B550M-A
• CPU AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 4.6GHz
• Water Cooler CPU Asus TUF Gaming LC 120
• GPU Asus Dual GeForce RTX 3060ti
• SSD M.2 2280 Kingston NV1 500GB
• HDD 3.5" Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM
• RAM Kingston Fury Beast RGB 16GB 3200MHz
• PSU Seasonic S12III Series 650W 80+ Bronze

Has anyone experienced this? Is it safe to use the computer at all or am I in danger of frying the other components or worse?

P.S.: I know the PSU is ranked pretty bad here but it was a pre built computer that had all the other components I wanted and since I'm a newbie at building PCs, I thought I could take advantage of some professional cable management for now and would replace it myself later (but hopefully not after just 1 month of use...)

 

[Aeacus]

Seasonic S12III Series 650W 80+ Bronze

Seasonic makes good PSUs but with the S12III unit, they really hit the bucket and hard. It is one of the very few outsourced PSUs they sell (outsourced to RSY). And as of why they outsourced it, i don't know. It's such a shame. 😒
Though, the predecessor of S12III was S12II and that was the best group-regulated PSU ever made. Even i used S12II-520 (80+ Bronze) for few years before i upgraded to Seasonic PRIME 650 (80+ Titanium) unit.

like coil whine

That's what it does sound, yes. Nothing to do about it. Also, one older Seasonic lineup, namely X-series, was also prone to coil while, despite being good PSUs otherwise (X-series is now discontinued).

Do note that no coil whine = good PSU and coil whine = bad PSU isn't true. These two are separate from each other.

Is it safe to use the computer at all

S12III is low quality PSU and i wouldn't use it at all. Especially powering the RTX 3060 TI, which is easy 500 bucks GPU at current date. And when low quality PSU starts to act up, GPU and MoBo are usually the 1st ones to go, alongside with the PSU.

So, it's your call. Do you want to risk your build with such a shameful PSU or not?

 

[nuclearblast21]

Thank you for replying!

Do you want to risk your build with such a shameful PSU or not?

Well, no, my plan was always to replace the PSU for a better one, but I would have to save up a little bit of cash so I can buy a more efficient one instead of another Bronze rated one.

The bigger question is, am I facing an emergency or not? Should I replace it like tomorrow for whatever PSU I can get my hands on (that is not garbage tier) or can it last for a few weeks while I save up a bit of cash to get a better and more expensive PSU?

 

[fishyjack]

I'd agree, coil whine is not indicative of build quality. It just happens. There are thousands of variables that cause coil whine that it's likely impossible to make PSUs/GPUs immune to coil whine completely.

The bigger question is, am I facing an emergency or not?

I would make replacing it a priority, but you should do a lot of research and avoid replacing it with the first thing you can 'get your hands on'.

Aeacus mentioned the Seasonic Prime and while I have no personal experience using that model, I hear that it is quite good. It's considered an A-tier PSU according to the PSU tier list.

 

[Aeacus]

Should I replace it like tomorrow

If i'd be in your place, i'd replace the PSU ASAP. S12III is low quality unit and not good enough for the high-end hardware you have.

Aeacus mentioned the Seasonic Prime and while I have no personal experience using that model, I hear that it is quite good.

There are two different PRIME series from Seasonic.

1. The original PRIME, e.g SSR-650TD, which is powering my Skylake build. <- That PSU, when it came out, was the best 650W PSU money could buy. And it still is one of the best PSUs ever made,
review by Tom's Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/seasonic-prime-titanium-650w-psu,4690.html

2. The small refresh of PRIME series, previously known as PRIME Ultra, e.g SSR-650TR, which is powering my Haswell build. Now, Seasonic renamed their PSUs about that time and the name changed to PRIME TX-650, which it currently stands as. <- When PRIME Ultra (PRIME TX) launched, it was also one exceptional unit, best what can be made,
review by KitGuru: https://www.kitguru.net/components/...asonic-prime-tx-650-titanium-psu-2020-review/

PRIME series, besides being one of the best (if not the best) PSUs out there, also come with the longest warranty ever seen: 12 years.
No other PSU OEM offers more than 10 years for their best PSUs. Here Seasonic is the only one, who offers 12 years of warranty for their best PSUs. So, there's that as well.

Now, very good PSUs doesn't come cheap. I had to fork out easy €200+ Euros per PSU. And if you don't have that kind of money, you can instead look towards Seasonic Focus+ series, which are still good PSUs but at more manageable price points. E.g my 3rd PC, AMD, is powered by Seasonic Focus+ 550 (80+ Platinum) unit (known as Focus PX-series now), since it isn't high-end PC. But still, i have a good PSU in there.
(Regarding my rigs: full specs with pics in my sig.)

I've said it thousands of times, and i'll say it again: Since PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC.

 

[--SID--]

Prime has issues with recent high-end GPUs, is the fan mediocore, histiric analog fancontrol instead of MCU, low grade 9A PCI-e connectors instead of 13A HCS and 18awg wires instead of 16awg. Not something you expect from an expensive suppost to be high-end unit.